For anyone living with low vision, using a screen magnifier on your computer is a must. There’s no need to struggle to read tiny text on a large monitor. Screen magnifiers are easy to use and can enlarge anything to help keep you connected to the digital world. But with several different screen magnifiers available, how are you supposed to know which one is best for you?
All Windows 11 computers have a built-in screen magnifier, called Windows Magnifier. Its features are limited, but if you only need occasional screen magnification, it may work for you. Education and Outreach Coordinator Kathleen Callen of the Council says she likes the built-in Windows Magnifier because it’s simple to use and is good enough for her needs. “It’s easy to use on demand, rather than having it on all the time,” Kathleen says. “And it doesn’t have as many options as other magnifiers, which makes it quick to set up and learn.”
To access Windows Magnifier on computers running Windows 11, press the Windows and Plus (+) keys. To stop using it, simply press Windows + Esc. In addition to screen magnification, Windows Magnifier will also give you a very basic text-to-speech option.
Jim Denham, Access Technology Specialist at the Council, says that for most people with low vision, the best screen magnifier option is ZoomText from the company Freedom Scientific. “It has a lot of great features that people may not realize they need,” Jim says. “A lot of people may say, ‘Well, I can just get by with this’ until they start using ZoomText and realize they don’t need to settle for just getting by.”
In addition to magnifying the text, ZoomText has a variety of other built-in features. One important feature is the ability to change screen colors to create better contrast. You can customize your screen color in a variety of ways, such as inverting the colors to white-on-black (or vice-versa) and yellow-on-black. You can similarly customize your mouse pointer and your focus indicator. While these options are available in Windows Magnifier, they can be hard to find. In ZoomText, you can easily switch between color palettes with a simple dropdown menu.
ZoomText also has a basic text-to-speech option, though you need to be sure to download ZoomText with Speech instead of the regular ZoomText. While not a full screen reader like JAWS, ZoomText with Speech offers great reading tools for those who need only a little speech.
If you prefer to use a screen reader in addition to screen magnification, the Fusion program is a great option. Fusion combines both ZoomText and JAWS into one easy-to-use program. You can customize both your screen magnification options, as you would with regular ZoomText, and your screen reader voice options. When you purchase and install Fusion, it will also install both ZoomText and JAWS onto your computer individually. Fusion is best for people with limited vision who need everything read to them, as opposed to people who just need the screen magnified with some basic speech options.
But Fusion is not without drawbacks. The first is its price tag. Fusion costs double the annual price of ZoomText. Second, because Fusion has JAWS running automatically, it will read out everything that a screen reader normally would, which could be annoying for people who do not always need speech. Finally, running Fusion can be taxing on a computer’s processor and memory, so it could slow things down if your computer is not powerful enough. Luckily, both ZoomText and Fusion offer a free trial, so you can explore which program is best for you before making the investment.
If you are new to using screen magnifiers, or have been using the built-in Windows Magnifier, Jim recommends giving ZoomText a try to see if it works well for you. You can find both ZoomText and Fusion available to purchase online at FreedomScientific.com/Products/Software. You can also contact the Council for help with screen magnifiers at Info@WCBlind.org or 608-255-1166.
